How Cheap Started
So what is Cheap? Cheap started as a zine ran by myself and my partner Nikki Marie Jackson. We’d seen a video at the Cornerhouse about Miranda July’s Joanie 4 Jackie. She was bored of being the only female video artist she knew so through advertising in galleries etc. she had other female video artists send her their videos which were then returned with films by several other artists on them as well. It worked very simply to show people what else was out there, to create a platform to show their work and an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals. It also gradually evolved with screenings, live performances, talks and now Miranda July is a fairly established director (check out you, me, and everyone we know it’s a great film).
So yes, this is what we wanted to do. We wanted meet new people and show others as we knew there was an entire world going to waste on myspace. So this is what we did, we started Cheap Magazine. Cheap because that was what it was, it was made cheaply on black and white photocopiers and even funded by the artists at first (as most of them were friends) and distributed freely around Manchester galleries and shops (and because people don’t take much notice of art as it is, let alone if you have to pay for it!). We made a magazine because that was most suitable as we are both image makers and it is what interests us the most.
We went on like this for about the first four months/issues before we started making changes. Firstly we realized that a lot of other people made similar things to us and that there was infact a whole world of zines, so we became Cheap Zine, because it is more appropriate, only a little change I know but I believe this recognition is still important in understanding a context. Secondly we started making digital copies of every zine so they didn’t just die after their first run because they got lost or crinkled. Thridly we started charging, still a small fee so we stayed cheap but a fee none-the-less. This allowed us to stop charging artists to make the zine and then the submissions began rolling in. And this leads us very nicely onto our next post…
